Improvement in fire-arms



F. B. E. BEAUMONT.

Revolver.

Patented June 3, 1856.

NAFEERS. FHOTU-LITMOGRAPNERA WASHINGTON. D C.

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UNITED STATES PATENT EETCE.

FREDK. B. E. BEAUMONT, OF UPPER VVOODBALL, BARNSLIJY, ENGLAND.

IMPRVEMENT IN FIRE-ARMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 15,032, dated June 3, 1856,

To all whom fit may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK BLAoxET EDWARD BEAUMONT, of Upper Woodhall, Barnsley, in the county of York, England, lieutenant royal engineers, and a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, have invented or discovered a new and useful Improvement in Fire-Arms called Revolversf7 and I, the said FREDERlcx BLACKET EDWARD BEAUMONT, do herebydeclare that the nature of the invention and the manner in which the same is performed are fully described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the annexed drawings, in which- Figure l shows a section ot' the stock and` barrel of a revolving pistol having the lock constructed and arranged according to my invention, the mechanical parts being shown in their respective positions immediately after the fall ot' the hammer. Fig. 2 shows another section of the same parts wherein the mechanical instruments are exhibited in the respective positions they assume when the hammer has been cocked by hand. The other figures shown in the drawings are some of the diti'erent views of the mechanical instruments or parts ofthe lock separately considered.

The revolvingbarrels are not shown in ei ther of the figures, in order that the other parts may be more clearly represented.

In the said drawings, (t c is the trigger', which moves on its fulcrum-pin b, and is coilstantly pressed on by its spring c, arranged as seeniu Figs. l and 2. The trigger has a click or driver, d, jointed to it, which, when the trigger is pulled, acts on the shoulder or notch e and raises or cocks the hammer a, or moves it from the position shown in Fig. l to lthat exhibited in Fig. 2, wherein the click or driverd is shown not only as having forced back the hammer, but as having passed or been forced out of the notch e by a cam, o, in order that the hammer lnay be free to descend on a nipple. In vthese respects the arrangement of parts is substantially the same as in revolverlocks-wherein the hammer is raised by the trigger when it is pulled upon.

It is to be understood that the peculiarity of the present invention thatis, while in addtion to the power of discharging the contents of the barrels of a revolver in succession by the simple act of pulling the trigger, the lock has also means or mechanism for not only admitting the hammer to be cocked by simply pulling it back by the thumb or finger, but subsequently to be discharged or thrown down by a pull on the trigger of much less effort than would be made to cock the hammer. by

pulling on the trigger. It also has means or mechanism which will not only cause the rotary magazine or series of barrels to be turned during the act of pulling backward either the trigger or the hammer, but when the hammer is pulled back by the hand of a person applied directly to it will cause the trigger to be rotracted or drawn back, so as to bring its discharging mechanism into close proximity with the part or parts against which it operates, in order to effect the discharge or release of the hammer after the latter has been set to cock. For these purposes it is necessary to employ an instrument or means which (when the hammer is being pulled back or cocked independently of the trigger) shall act on the trigger and move it in position, to enable a person, by a further movement or pull ou it, to discharge the click or stop which retains the hammer. This application of means or connection between the hammer and the trigger may be varied in detail; but that which l prefer to employ may be described as follows:

In Figs. l and 2,f is a click or catch,which is arranged and pressed toward the hammer by a spring, p, as therein shown. This click, whentheha-mmerismovedback,entersanotch, g, thereof and retains the hammer at cock.

h is the driver, which causes the barrels to be revolved in the ordinary way on their arbor. f

t' t' is a spring, which is fixed to the driver la and passes down below the pin of the joint k, by which the driver his connected to the trigger. This spri'ng is so applied as to constantly press the driver It away from the front edge of the hammer and against the ratchet ot' the magazine. The spring t', or another one, should valso be made to press on the tail of the driver d, so as to force it toward the hammer.

l is a hook or projection fixed to the lower part of the hammer. It enters a slot, x, formed -in the driver d, which is thereby raised when the hammer is put back by the thumb, the trigger at such time being raised or moved into position to dislodge. the hammer by a very short pull.

From the above it will be seen that when the hammer is being cocked or put back by the thumb directly opposed to it the operation of the hook l in the slot x simultaneously causes such a back movement of the trigger as will ei'eet the rotary movement ofthe magazine or series of barrels. Thus, either by a back pull on the trigger orone on the hammer, the magazine may be put in rotation, so as to bring up into the path of the hammer the nipple of the barrel next to be discharged. When the trigger is pulled for the purpose of discharging the hammer the driver cl will be forced upward between the clickfand the hammer, and will operate as a wedge to force the click f out of the notch by which it retains the hammer in its highest position. The hammer, on being relieved, will be thrown downward by the retractive power of the mainspring r.

A revolver having its lock constructed in the above peculiar manner not only possesses the advantage of rapid tiring by raising the hammer by the trigger when at close quarters, where nieety of aim is not essential, but it also enables a person to take aim with great precision at a long range and with the hammer set to cock, the hammer being afterward discharged with little pressure on the trigger in comparison to that required to elevate it to full-cock. It also possesses the further advantage of having the magazine or rotary series of barrels revolved not only whenever. the trig ger is pulled back by hand applied ldirectly to it,but whenever the hammer is so pulled backward. The superiority of such a weapon over .those which have their locks constructed in such manner that their hammers can only be elevated in one way, whether it be by pull on the trigger or by the hand applied directly to them, will be apparent to any person skilled in the use of tire-arms.

I would remark that I do not claim to raise and discharge the hammer of a revolver by the action of the trigger when separately considered; neither do I claim to arrange the lock of a revolver in such manner that the hammer may be cocked by hand when separately considered 5 nor do I claim to rotate the magazine of barrels of a revolver by a mechanism so connected either with the trigger or the hammer that a pull on either of them shall effect such turning of the said mechanism, but when the hammer has a mechanism by which such hammer may be set to cock by a direct pull upon it, and when the trigger, hammer, and rotary series ot' barrels are so combined that by a backward pull on the trigger the hammer shall be elevated the series of barrels turned, and the h ammer set free or discharged.

I claim- Gombining with the hammer and trigger a mechanism (videlicet the hook and slot x or their mechanical equivalent or equivalents) whereby the trigger shall be drawn backward and the series of barrels turned while the hammer is being drawn back by a direct pull on it, as specified. y

In witness whereof I, the said FREDERICK BLACKET EDWARD BEAUMONT, have here-A unto set my hand and sealv this 9th day of April, in the year of our Lord, 1855.

FREDERICK BLACKET EDWARD BEAUMONT.

Witnesses:

GEO. PITT,

4 Old Square. J oHN R. DARKER,

Consulate U. S. A., London. 

